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There was a time I didn’t know if I would have a family. My Dr told me not to give up hope for a family after we lost our first daughter, Ariel. I’m so grateful I found my hope again. And so very blessed to have these strong, smart, beautiful people in my life. I love you, birdies.

We’ve had such a fun, cousin-filled summer overflowing with quintessential childhood memory snapshots. It’s so nice now that Wren’s a bit older and she can really play with all her cousins on both sides of the family and develop relationships and boss people around and share bad habits. I don’t really know my own cousins very well, but I can’t imagine my girls growing up and not knowing their cousins. I know we just get busier and busier and schedules fill up and soon enough too much time goes by and you don’t see each other… until there’s a wedding or a funeral. Boo. I hope we always make an effort to get these wonderful little ones together so they can have lifelong cousin friends.

I don’t think I’ll ever forget Wren and Griffin on the Hydroslide. I was back on the dock and I could hear Wren yelling, “go faster, Grandpa!!!” One of those “where did my baby go?” moments.

And when did sharing become fun? I’m so glad these kiddos are (mostly) over the everythingismine stage. For now!

The days are getting a bit shorter and as the sun sets on most of our cousin-filled fun, we are feeling extra grateful for our families. It takes a lot of effort to travel and take time away from work and normal life activities, but it’s worth it. Thank you!

“If of thy mortal goods thou art bereft,
And from thy slender store
Two loaves alone to thee are left,
Sell one, and with the dole,
Buy hyacinths to feed thy soul.”

~ Musharish-Ud-Din Sadi

My father-in-law rescued me today. He took Wren out to their house for the day and he brought me a beautiful hyacinth, to “feed thy soul.” Feeling very blessed and grateful. Bonus: I got to have lunch out with my husband today. And the hives are retreating. Things are looking up. Happy weekend, lovelies. XO

Happy 44th birthday to our dear Papa, friend and husband! We celebrated yesterday with “44” sugar cookies for breakfast… Followed by a lazy day with the girls and a family dinner. Chris said he had a great day. Smiling.

We said bye-bye to summer last night with a warm sunset swim. It was a beautiful evening. The little birdie played on the big rocks with Papa while the full harvest moon rose over Old Mission Peninsula. The water was crisp and clear. With heavy hearts we dragged ourselves home, which involved a certain toddler flailing on the ground for a bit. If I didn’t have such a hard time getting off the ground right now, I might have done the same thing. We prolonged summer a bit more with a candlelight “smudge” (s’more) on the front porch. Thank you, summer!

The little birdie’s older boy cousins are in the area for about a month and she has been working hard at keeping up with them. I love that she doesn’t realize that she’s smaller and younger AND a girl. She just wants to do what they’re doing: “Wren’s turn NOW!” I also love that being a boy or a girl means nothing yet and doesn’t determine what you should be doing or saying or wearing or role-playing. It’s just good ole kiddo summer fun: playing in the water, fishing, eating watermelon, lying in the hammock. Aah, to be a kid again…

thumb-sucker! Sorry, lovelies, we didn’t find out the sex of the baby yesterday, although truth be told, this Mama kind of wanted to know this time around. But Chris wanted to wait so we agreed not to find out. Plus the tech said that the baby had its legs crossed anyway, so it would’ve been difficult to find out. It was just meant to be. The surprise at delivery IS fun too, isn’t it?

More importantly, however, the baby looks healthy. All is well. Keep on, keepin’ on.

So *they* say that little birdie #2 is now roughly the size of a large heirloom tomato. I found this old photo of Wren with one of last year’s tomatoes from our garden. I’m hoping she doesn’t bite the baby when it arrives, but I wouldn’t be completely surprised…

We’ve got our ultrasound today – please send lots of good karma out into the world that all will be well. Given our history, I’m a tad nervous. And no, sorry, we won’t be finding out whether it’s a boy or a girl. We love the surprise when the baby is born. You’ll just have to wait for about twenty more weeks like the rest of us.

We zipped on downstate this past weekend to visit with my Mom and a bit with my Grandma too for Mother’s Day. In addition to lots of Mom love, we were blessed with gorgeous spring weather (no coats!) and a virtual feast for the eyes: all the flowering trees were in full bloom. Fields of endless dandelions. Tulips, tulips and more tulips. Absolutely lovely.

Poor Chris was sick with a yucky cold AND pink eye so he wasn’t in the best of spirits, but somehow he managed to tackle a huge project for meine Mutti, for which I know she is incredibly grateful. It sure helps to have a handy son-in-law!

Speaking (err, writing) of meine Mutti, she just hasn’t changed. Check out this photo of her from about 30 (!) years ago and then today. Amazing!

And Grandma! Isn’t she just adorable? Almost 90 and she was in a pretty darn joyful mood because the Tigers had a no-hitter on Saturday. Woot woot! And she got to snuggle with the little birdie for a bit. A rare treat with the squirmy little lady.

I’m so very grateful to be a Mom. There was a time when I didn’t think I would be able to have children and I feel so blessed to have a happy, healthy, beautiful, funny, feisty daughter. And even more blessed to be expecting another child this year. I love this precious, exhausting, wonder-filled time as a Mom, even though there are moments when I just want to punch out at the end of my shift. No such thing…!

To all the Mamas out there, thank you for all that you do to make the world go ’round. We all live in a better world because of the tireless work you do. XO

Wren just adores her ‘dama Judy. They do such fun things together every week, like going for walks to Morsels, Wren’s favorite place, and making a snow bunny! We’ve already lost a lot of snow from earlier in the week, but there was plenty of wet snow left for making a snow bunny. Isn’t it adorable? I didn’t feel much like sculpting anything else with snow this year. I just wanted to sit inside, read books and eat popcorn. Thank goodness for ‘dama Judy! We feel very blessed that we have family who live nearby and take such an active interest in the little birdie’s development as a snow sculptor.